Saturday 14th March, 2015 at 7:13pm
After a great start Thistle went on to dispatch St Johnstone three goals to nil, rounding off a near perfect display and a terrific day in the office for Thistle gaffer, Alan Archibald. Archie spoke to ptfc.co.uk shortly after the final whistle.
“The start to the game was absolutely vital that we started the game well today and we knew that the first goal would have a massive impact on who would eventually go on to win the game. We’ve had a couple of bad performances here lately and so it was really important to come out of the blocks sharp so our confidence was up.
“We had to make changes again this week with injuries and suspensions so it was a different looking team today but they went out there and did exactly what we asked of them. The changes worked and we worked hard from front to back.”
It was a slight change of tactics from Thistle Lawless, Doolan and Stevenson all in attacking roles but it was a risk that well and truly paid off.
“It was great to get them all playing and they played very well together. It was a really capped off with Doolan’s goal but, to be fair, Stevenson could easily have had one too. In fact we could have been three or four up at half time, it was a great display.”
Thistle now edge ever closer to securing Premiership survival for next term, but Archibald knows it is far from done and dusted.
“All the teams in the bottom six will have their ups and downs and we just need to look after ourselves. I certainly wouldn’t say we’re safe yet but we have taken a step in that direction today. More performances like that will certainly help and we have a great opportunity to move further clear next week.
“We are still missing the consistency of performance in a big way. We seem to either be brilliant or terrible and we need a few more performances where we might not play teams off the park but we work hard and get a result. St Johnstone have made a habit of winning games 1-0 this season and that is why they are where they are and we are where we are.”
